A:
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and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You
can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green
Guru's secret identity.

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Tuesday - December 02, 2008

QUESTION:

Last year we lost a large pine that was part of privacy screen and we replaced it with two Eastern red cedars. There is still a substantial gap that won't be filled in by the cedars and we were considering some American hollies to provide textural contrast and wildlife benefit. Our nursery said that the hollies grow slowly and eventually get very large. Adjacent to the site are huge white pines that filter the light coming in. Do you have any suggestions for an evergreen of 15 feet max mature height that would grow faster than the holly and have wildlife value that would do well in this site? We are in Northern Virginia.

ANSWER:

The biggest problem here was your need for an evergreen plant. It is true that the hollies are evergreen, and Ilex opaca (American holly) has some dwarf cultivars that you might inquire about at your nursery. They are not fast-growing, and in order to have berries, you must have both male and female plants, with at least one male to every three or four females, and within about 30'. Beyond that, we found four plants that could suit your purposes. Follow the links to the webpage on each plant for more information, and go down to the bottom of that webpage to click on a link to Google on that plant.

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